1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chemical compound apt to suppress cancer cells and a method for synthesizing the said chemical compound, particularly to derivatives of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid apt to suppress cancer cells and a method for synthesizing the derivatives of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cancer mainly refers to unregulated and uncontrollably cell proliferation and migration caused by genetic mutation, leading to various incidences of abnormality hyperplasia of cell invading nearby tissues or organs, metastasis through lymphatic system or vessel system, and malignant neoplasm.
Generally, cancer pathogenesis is related to mutation occurred on two types of genes: oncogenes, that drive growth and reproduction of cells, and tumor suppressor genes, which inhibit cell division, development and existence. Accordingly, it is supposed to suppress cancer cells by administrating expression of tumor suppressor genes, such as p53, to an affective part, activating p53 protein when DNA has sustained damage, holding the cell cycle at the G1/G2 stage for repairing damage, and finally initiating apoptosis if the DNA damage is irreparable.
In conventional arts, some anti-cancer drugs, for example cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II, CDDP), are widely used in a treatment for suppressing tumor, including ovarian cancer, germinoma, oesophageal cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, or endometrial carcinoma. However, with the treatment of such anti-cancer drugs, patients usually suffer from intolerable side effects, including vomiting, anemia, hair loss, and immune system disorders, such as decrease in lymphocytes and platelets, and finally even leads to serious drug-resistance.
Hence there is a pressing need of providing a chemical compound, being highly efficient in tumor suppression and sharing synergistic effects with conventional anti-cancer drugs, in order to improve the disadvantages of conventional drugs and develop a new medication for suppressing cancer cells.